Grading part 5

     

      Look at the whole image before you start editing. Observe every details  that are present. The whole point of color correction is to be able to create a new approach to a shot. There's no right or wrong way to color correct an image. It really comes down to your talent on how you process the image with your skills. Your job is to interpret what the director or client's mean and give life to their visions.

               

               

               

               

               

               

     In the sample images above, I want it to look warmer but I don't want to make it all yellow/orange. So what I did is first (as always) balanced the image. You can either neutralize it manually or just use auto color (alt + A) either way it's fine. Then, I dragged both gamma and gain to yellow/orange; increased the amount of contrast, increased the amount of highlights, I dragged the shadows to blue a little bit and increased the color boost a little and also dragged the saturation down a little. Those are the things I did to achieved this look. Before it looks plain flat, now it has a warm vintage-ish look.

     Whenever you grade, try to keep it interesting and show them a good work. People like to see colorist who catch little details and improved it. You got to go to different parts of the image and blend then on a realistic way and render out something that looks exactly what you want it to looked like, and make sure that what you're looking at the screen will match the results of your rendered footage.

Grading part 4

     The reason why we grade is because we want the footage to look better and more appealing or entertaining to everyone who will see it. Colors also helps in enhancing the emotion and gives depth to it. When you grade, before you start, try to browse the clips and find the common ground. Always remember that if the contrast is pushed so hard, it becomes noisy. When it's dark or there are certain areas that is dark, you need to at least increased it a bit to lighten it at least a little because crushed image is a distraction.

                 
                 
                 

                                     BEFORE - AFTER

     Every time you add colors or effects, you also need to watched out for the result, that it is not overdo or noisy. There are times that crushed blacks or whites are acceptable, but only if it works to the kind of genre or style it has, but not most of the time it is needed. The main purpose of color grading in my own opinion is to balance the colors and enhance the scenes by adding artificial colors to fit the director's vision on how it will look like. You also need to know how your system is going to react and on how it will spit videos after you edit it.

Grading part 3

                                      BEFORE - AFTER
                 
    
                 

                 

                  

     When they handed you the footages that you are going to grade, the best way to find a shot that has the best lighting, skin tones, etc. is to examine the footages first and be honest about yourself on what it is and on how it looks.

Always remember that consistency is important. When dealing with colors, you need to know your intended output. Showing an option is a safe way to present it to the directors or clients. Colorist are good in hiding things, you need to learn how to hide something and make it more appealing and best to the eyes of the viewers and to the eyes of the directors/clients.

Grading part 2

ORIGINAL

Technicolor Look                                         Bleach Bypass Look A
 

     Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and then improved over several decades. It is the most common color process used in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952. Technicolor is best known for its highly saturated colors. Bleach Bypass Look is style where the silver is retained in the emulsion along with the other colors. But in Look A, I try to retain some colors at least, especially on her skin tone.

Bleach Bypass look B                                     Cross processing Look
 

     BBP look B is more silver-y than look A. Cross processing look on the other hand is characterized by unnatural colors and high contrast. Sometimes it can look a little vintage-ish or dark than the usual.

     Part of the job as a colorist is to interpret what the client wants to see and how much of the look they want.

Original                                                  Scifi Minority Report Look
 

Bleach Bypass Look                                        Hot Day City of God Look
 

   Color grading is not limited to one look/style only. You have to remember that every time you grade, you have to consider making at least a few different styles so that you are giving your client some choices. Then you can improve it after they picked which they liked.

Grading part 1

     Color grading is the process of altering or enhancing the color of a motion picture, video image and still image either electronically, chemical or digital.

BEFORE - AFTER
 

 

 

     When you're color grading, one of the most important things you need to know are the tools or software you are using; you have to figure out where you are and where you're gonna be. Your job is to manipulate the image to be something. Imagine what the image could be, and every time you edit it you're unlocking a way to make it look better. Try working from the source, the better you understand the capture image the better you can manipulate it. Don't let the process dictate what will happen, as long as the over all feeling is similar, you're on the right path. Sometimes you don't have the control on what you're handed so don't overdo it. A true professional knows when to stop.

Minor Corrections

     I was given a project to edit. The tasked is to neutralize the video, make it more colorful and the outside scenes should look like sunny because the scene was shot on a cloudy day. So the images below are just some of the scenes from the project that I graded.

 
Before,After

     Before the image looks pale and less contrast. I did some simple ways to make it more lively. I balanced the image first then increased the amount of saturation a little bit then also increase the color boost. Color boost is some what similar to saturation; as the name suggest, it boost the color to make it more strong. I applied just the right amount of boosting, don't over do it because it will crushed the colors and will make it noisy. I then used the qualifier on the sky and dragged both gamma and gain a little to blue to make it look like it's morning.

 
Before,After

     Since the task was to make the film look natural, In this sample, I just did some simple steps to achieved it. I lower the amount of lift to give depth to the shadows or the darker areas, then increase both gamma and gain a bit. I also increase the contrast a little. I dragged the highlights down a little so that it won't crushed the brighter parts of the scene especially the building at the background. Then I increase the color boost to enhance the present colors in the scene.

 

Before,After

     In this example, It's a bit challenging because there are times that the skintones looks more yellowish and not natural. What I did is I increased the luma to lighten the image then increased the highlights and color boost a little. I lower the amount of shadows and increased the amount of contrast and saturation. Then added a little yellowish/orange tint to it. It looks appealing now than before.

 

Before,After

     This scene is not difficult to grade since it was shot inside where the lights are mostly blue. I increased the amount of saturation on this one to strengthen the color. I increased the highlights and contrast so that it won't look flat then lower the shadow as well. I make sure that the colors from the object that she's holding is emphasize since it changes colors.

Before, After

     I did a little balance on this one. I increased the highlights a little then also increased the amount of color boost, contrast, luma and saturation to make it more colorful  and appealing to the eyes of the viewers. Before it looks really sad and a bit de-saturated, now it's more fun and entertaining.